REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON VICTIM ASSISTANCE

Bangkok, Thailand: 06 to 08 November 2001

The Regional Workshop on Victim Assistance was organized from 6 to 8 November 2001 at Bangkok, Thailand, with the support provided by Germany, Norway, Switzerland, and Thailand, and coordinated by Handicap International. Participation's delegations were invited from South East Asia Countries including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Delegations from Myanmar and other countries and from International Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations were also invited to be the observers of the workshop.

The main objectives of this regional workshop are:

To bring together government officials, technical actors, and organizations in Victim Assistance from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as non-governmental organizations in the region, with relevant experience;
To provide the opportunity to study and discuss victim assistance along with grater technical insight into the problem of victims assistance in South Eat Asia;
To allow improved co-ordination and use of methodologies among relevant actors;
To show ways to overcome the challenges defined in country plans of action; and
To involve donor State in the implementation of projects by providing detailed information on national action plans.

This three-day workshop provided opportunity for delegations from Southeast Asia Countries to present the outcome of their National Workshop on Victim Assistance (was held in the last few months ago). Furthermore, the thematic discussion addressing the needs of mine victims, current services, ideal situation, resources and supports required, link between sectors and recommendations was took place. Another discussion was also conducted to examine the needs of actors from each technical area and how these can be met regionally and globally.

Three main areas were brought to be discussing at each thematic discussion including:

Medical treatment and rehabilitation;
Socio-economical reintegration and institutional support; and
Programs provided by NGOs and IOs, and Analysis of their works in the region.

The main aims of this discussion are:

To identify the gaps in services and recommendations relating resources and support required;
To identify the links to be developed nationally, regionally, and globally between actors from Government, NGOs, and IOs to enhance services for victims;
To identify the policies ad institutional supports that would be required to support the outcome and recommendations of the Working Groups.

At last, the delegation had discussed about the potential regional developments, which is related:

To overview national and regional situation concerning to the strong and the weak points in victim assistance;
To strengthen regional cooperation; and
To refine and validate national reports with inputs from this Conference.

There are 25 Cambodian delegations (15 delegations are official one and the rest are un-official delegations) were invited to attend this Conference. They were invited from governmental institutions and national and international NGOs, who is currently working for and related to disabilities and rehabilitation sectors.

This workshop was conducted successfully, lead further harmonic cooperation and collaboration between Southeast Asia Countries.

To view Cambodia Nation Workshop on Victim Assistance's Report, please click here (MS Word-2000, 465kb)